


Rowaelin, Lifeguard AU

by babinforaelin



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Lifeguards, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beach House, Beaches, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:20:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25913518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babinforaelin/pseuds/babinforaelin
Summary: Rowan worked happily as a lifeguard at Skulls Bay, but everything changed when a fiery young woman joined the team.Rowaelin Lifeguard AU
Relationships: Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Rowan Whitethorn, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Rowan Whitethorn
Comments: 11
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

The midday sun pulsed above Sculls Bay, creating an endless wave of heat that made the air almost suffocating. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen and the water glimmered with shades of blues and greens.

Rowan Whitehorn sat perched atop the lifeguard’s chair, eyes scanning the shore for any sort of danger. It wasn’t particularly crowded today, but it didn’t stop him from observing the area with extreme detail. Despite being on his break, Gavriel was down by the rock pools, showing some sea snails to a group of children. Toward the centre of the beach, Fenrys and Connal were both talking to a group of bikini-clad women, no doubt flirting their way into dates. Lorcan and Vaughn sat in the lifeguard tower behind him, watching the surrounding area.

An ocean breeze drifted through Rowan’s hair, offering a small relief from the intense heat. Rowan checked his watch. It was nearly time for his break. He had been here for hours, baking under the sun. In his years working as a lifeguard his skin had deepened into a golden tan, despite trying his best to cover up. But there was only so much sunscreen could do when you spent everyday at the beach.

The walkie-talkie at his hip rasped to life as Lorcan’s voice rang out.

“Whitehorn, it’s nearly time for your break. Gavriel should be coming back soon.”

Rowan sighed. Gavriel was still showing children the wonders of the rockpools.

He picked up the machine.

“Sure thing.”

* * *

Rowan waited until Gavriel came to take over his shift, nearly twenty-minues late, but as he climbed down the lifeguard chair his walkie-talkie sparked to life once again.

“We have a young girl that has been pushed into a rift off to the right side of the beach! She can’t keep her head above the water! Go, go, go!” Lorcan yelled.

Rowan whipped around, eyes frantically searching for the girl. Where was she? There. The current had pushed her to the end of the bay, and if he wasn’t fast she might go under. Rowan started sprinting for the jet skis that lined the edge of the surf, Gavriel right behind him. They rushed past the twins who had left the women and begun spriting to the lifeguard tower, ready to grab first aid supplies if necessary.

Rowan had just reached the jet ski when Lorcan’s voice came through once again.

“Whitehorn, you can stop now. The girl is out. Someone beat you to it.”

Rowan scanned the beach, searching for the girl. Gavriel nudged him in the ribs and pointed a finger to the edge of the water. Rowan’s breath caught in his throat.

A woman emerged out of the surf, cradling the young girl in her arms. She had a deep tan, like his own, and her golden hair hung in wet strands around her face. Her muscles tensed as she ran toward the lifeguard tower. She glanced at them as she ran by, leaving them in her wake.

* * *

The young girl was fine, albeit a bit traumatised. What hurt more was Rowan’s ego. He was happy that the girl was okay, however he could have done without being shown up by a random beach-goer. Rowan watched the girl’s mother break out in tears as she hugged her daughter, and then wrapped the young woman, Aelin, into a bear hug.

“Better luck next time, dude.” Fenrys whispered from beside him.

Rowan just gave him a glare.

Aelin sent the mother and daughter on their way before walking over to them. She could be no older than twenty but her blue swimsuit clung to her body, revealing every dip and curve. Her hair had dried, and now bounced in golden waves as she walked with a lethal grace that made Rowan raise his guard. Frankly, he wanted nothing to do with her, but even he had to admit she was attractive.

Fenrys shifted and Rowan had to hold back a scoff. The boy could hardly keep his dick in his pants at the best of times. Now there was … this to contend with. She reached them, kicking up sand as she came to stand before them.

“I thought saving people was your job?” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Rowan felt his face twist into a scowl.

“How did you even get out there so quickly?” Fenrys asked from his spot on the sand.

Aelin flipped her hair. “I guess I just saw her long before you did. Maybe take your job a bit more seriously next time.”

Rowan growled, but the sound of footsteps coming down from the lifeguard tower stopped him. Lorcan appeared at the bottom of the steps a moment later.

“Speaking of next time,” he said as he walked over to them, “I think we could use an extra pair of eyes on our team.”

Aelin smirked and Rowan had to hold back the urge to throttle her.

* * *

Rowan sat with Gavriel in the watchtower, picking at the sandwich he had bought from a local cafe. He was still seething from when Aelin had come to take over his shift, clad in a bright red swimsuit that zipped up the front. He had jumped down from the his place atop the chair and Aelin gave him a cocky grin as she climbed up the attached ladder, giving him a view of the word ‘LIFEGUARD’ that had been written across the back of her new costume. He also received a rather… pleasant view of her backside. Not that he would let her know that. Regardless, he still didn’t like her. She acted as though she owned the place, despite the fact that she had only arrived for her first shift ten minutes ago.

So as Rowan sat in the tower with his sandwich, he glared daggers into her form atop the chair – his chair.

Fenrys walked in, taking a seat next to Rowan. He followed his gaze, before breaking out into a grin. He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head.

“Mark my words, Whitehorn. Before the season is up, I’m gonna tap that.”

Gavriel snorted from across the room.

“Good luck.”


	2. Chapter 2

It was official. Rowan hated her.

Everything Aelin did irritated him to no end. Whether she be saving people he had been prepared to rescue, or simply laughing blissfully with the public of Skulls Bay. He despised her. It had only been a few weeks since she had started working, yet Rowan could already tell that the girl disliked him just as much. He tried to limit their interactions as much as possible, but whenever Aelin came to take over his shift, it seemed like she would go out of her way to annoy him. A week ago she’d taken an extra hour “getting ready” for work, leaving him to roast under the sun while he waited for her. Just yesterday she “accidentally” kicked sand into his face while he ate his lunch under the shade of one of the palm trees. 

However today Aelin sat behind him in the lifeguard tower, and Rowan couldn’t shake the feeling that she was watching his every move.

“Why the long face?” Fenrys called from the bottom of the lifeguard’s chair, where Rowan had been perched all morning.

Rowan didn’t dare take his eyes off the surf as he growled, “go finish you patrol.”

“Already done.”

“Then do it again.”

Fenrys swore and then stalked back down the beach, feet scuffing the sand as he went.

Rowan’s walkie-talkie pulsed at his side, Aelin’s voice ringing through over the static.

“Rowan. Pay attention and stop bickering with Fenrys.”

The muscles in his neck strained. He picked up the machine.

“I’m making sure he does his job properly. Maybe I should teach you to do the same, especially since these are only meant for discussing emergency situations.”

There was a brief pause, but Rowan didn’t have time to smirk before her voice came through again.

“Well while you took your focus away from the beach to argue, an emergency could have occurred, Buzzard.”

Rowan whipped around in his chair, twisting so he could see Aelin through the glass window of the tower, walkie-talkie in her hand. Knowing that nobody else could see her, she pressed her middle finger against the glass.

Rowan couldn’t stop the growl that came from his throat.

“Brat.”

“Bastard.”

“You’re too immature for this job.”

She scoffed.

“Says the guy bullying his co-workers.”

Another voice came through. Rougher. Lorcan.

“You’re both too immature for this job apparently. While you two were fighting a kid was stung by a jellyfish. You’re lucky Vaughn was patrolling.”

Both Rowan and Aelin spun their heads to the surf, where Vaughn was carrying a small boy up the beach.

* * *

The boy was wailing in Aelin’s arms as Gavriel used tweezers to pry each tentacle from the child’s leg. Big, blubbering tears spilled down his face and Aelin brushed her palm over his head in an attempt to soothe him. Guilt twisted hard in Rowan’s gut, and he knew Aelin felt the same. This hadn’t been just a regular jellyfish – it had been a Blue Nettle, one of the most dangerous of all the stingers in Skulls Bay. It’s tentacles are poisonous enough to cause extreme pain on an adult, let alone a child.

Gavriel pulled the last tentacle from the boy’s skin, and Aelin whispered encouraging words into his ear as Lorcan because to wash it with hot water water. Rowan stood in the corner of the room, arms crossed over his chest. The boy let out another cry of pain and Aelin winced, then turned her eyes to Rowan, a scowl twisting her features.

She wouldn’t say it aloud, but Rowan could almost read her thoughts.

This is all your fault.

Rowan felt his nostrils flare.

My fault? I don’t think so. You’re the one to blame here.

Aelin’s eyes narrowed.

If you had just done your job and paid attention…

You were the one distracting me!

The boy screamed again as Lorcan ran a damp cloth over one of the huge welts left on the child’s leg, and Aelin instantly fixed her attention on him.

When the pain finally subseeded, Gavriel walked the boy back to his home on the beachfront.

Rowan and Aelin sat in the afternoon shade of the Lifeguard tower, completely ignoring one another. Aelin distracted herself by cupping fistfuls of sand, and then letting the grains fall through her fingers.

Rowan simply rested his arms on his knees and watched the surf.

Lorcan’s dark form stalked up to them, the look on his face one of pure rage. He stopped at their feet, a menacing expression on his face as he stared down at them.

“You are both lucky it was just a stinger. What would you have done if the boy had drowned? Someone could have died today, but you were both too busy bickering to notice. You are lifeguards here for a reason.”

Rowan saw Aelin look away, toward the surf.

Lorcan squatted down until he was at eye-level.

“You two are on the 5am shift. Permanently.”

* * *

“Buzzard.”

“Brat.”

This had been their only greeting for the past week. If Lorcan had expected this to sort out their mutual hate for one another, he’d been very wrong.

Rowan would have taken the 5am shift without complaint. It was his punishment for being lax in his responsibilities. But did Lorcan have to throw Aelin into the equation? Surely the early morning was punishment enough.

Rowan threw his bag into his locker, grabbed his walkie-talkie off the table and stalked outside.

“I’ll take the chair,” was all he said before he slammed the back door.

The beach was dead this early in the morning, aside from the odd runner that jogged across the sand. The sun had barely risen but lifeguards needed to be on duty anyway, just in case. As Rowan climbed into the chair, he watched Aelin stalk out of the tower and down the beach, flags in hand. She paused for a moment, looking at the surf, no doubt determining where the rips were in the surf. Then she planted the flags on the beach, ready for the public. But she didn’t walk back up to the tower. Rowan lowered his sunglasses and watched her, curious. She bent down, and picked up … a shell? Rowan leaned forward.

She picked up another shell, and then another, walking up and down the length of the beach until she had so many shells that she had to carry them in a makeshift pouch she made from the bottom of her jumper.

When she walked back up to the tower, Rowan sent her a quizzical look, which she chose to ignore.

Rowan huffed and leaned back into the chair, crossing his arms across his broad chest.


	3. Chapter 3

Rowan and Aelin continued their torturous early mornings for several more weeks before Lorcan eventually decided to give them a break. Only Rowan hadn’t realised that Lorcan’s definition of a break for him meant a single day without Aelin yapping at his side.

Rowan had cursed under his breath when he arrived at the lifeguard tower that morning, only to find that Aelin wasn’t there. Instead, Fenrys sat in one of the plastic chairs as he gulped down a coffee. Fenrys offered him a nod, which Rowan returned begrudgingly before slamming open his locker and shoving his bag in. Fenrys jumped.

“Woah, dude. What did the locker ever do to you?”

It was too early in the morning to deal with Fenrys. Rowan just slammed the locker shut.

“What are you doing here?” He asked with a scowl.

“Why?” Fenrys turned his head and smirked, “expecting someone else?”

Rowan rolled his eyes before walking over to the boy and smacking him behind the head. He yelped.

“Yes. Where is she?”

“Lorcan gave her the day off. Don’t blame me for it.”

Rowan growled. Why on earth was she getting the day off and not him? They had both suffered through these early mornings together.

Blood boiling, Rowan snatched up the flags off the floor and made his way down the beach, planting them along the shoreline.

Aelin normally did this job. She wasn’t even here and she was annoying him! Rowan didn’t know why he was so angry, especially since a day away from her should mean sweet relief. Perhaps he was just annoyed that his morning routine was being ruined. Yes, that had to be it. Usually he would sit on the lifeguard chair and watch as she put up the flags, assessing where the rips in the tide were each morning. Then she would walk along the shore and pick up shells before the crowds wafted in. Rowan wasn’t sure why she did it, and he would have demanded to know if she didn’t look so … sensitive as she collected them.

As Rowan marched back through the sand he glared at the shells around him as if each one was Aelin herself. They all seemed to smirk back at him.

* * *

It was midday when Fenrys’ knowing voice muffled through the walkie-talkie at Rowans hip. “Look who just arrived at the north end of the beach. Looking fantastic too, I might add.”

Rowan whipped his head around from his position atop the lifeguard chair, and felt his face burn with anger as he spotted her strutting toward him like she owned the white sand she walked on. Gone was her red lifeguard suit, now replaced by a wicked, black string bikini that made Rowan scowl even harder. She must have seen him looking through her dark glasses because she threw her towel over her shoulder with a smirk that would have sent lesser men mad.

“I never thought I’d say this but I think I’m over Aelin. I wonder if her friend is single?” Fenrys’ voice came through once more.

The words startled Rowan and his tunnel-vision view of Aelin expanded as he took in her companions. Indeed, the dark-haired woman next to her was the kind of beautiful that made people senseless with desire. The man on her other side looked like a male-version of Aelin, with an equally wicked grin plastered on his face. Was he a friend of hers, or a lover? Rowan growled, though he didn’t know why.

“Stop thinking with your dick. Fenrys.”

He could almost feel the boy pouting from where he sat in the tower.

Aelin eventually sashayed her way to the foot of Rowan’s chair, her companions having left to set up their towels.

“Such a pissy face on such a beautiful day, what a shame.” She said by way of greeting. Rowan lifted his sunglasses into his hair, now stiff with salt water.

“Unfortunately not all of us get the luxury of a day off.” He grumbled, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. 

“So unfortunate…” she trailed off with a hint of laughter, looking up at Rowan from beneath her sunglasses. The sight of her eyes had him leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Why are you here anyway? You have a day off and you decide to spend it at work?”

“It wasn’t my idea,” Aelin gestured towards her companions. “My best friend and my cousin showed up on my doorstep this morning and all but dragged me down here. I’d wanted to spend the day sleeping but I should be so lucky.” The image of Aelin being physically hauled out of bed almost brought a laugh to his lips. Almost. Indeed, when he looked closer at the two figures now building a piss-poor sandcastle together, Rowan realised that the blonde man was indeed Aelin’s cousin. God, they were a mirror image. Aelin followed his gaze. “That’s Aedion. Honestly I’m the prettier one but he never seems to agree. That goddess over there is Lysandra. Pretty, but you might want to tell Fenrys that she’s currently boning my cousin. And since I can practically feel Fenrys staring at us from the tower windows, you might need to remind him to do his job.” Rowan didn’t need to look over his shoulder to confirm it.

Rowan sighed through his nose. “I’ll let him know.”

Aelin smiled and started to walk back to her friends. She paused a few feet away and looked back at him over her shoulder.

“I have to say I am quite upset you didn’t get a day off too. It’s not as much fun when you can’t bite back.”


End file.
